Abstract
Purpose :
To determine if infliximab can be successfully used to achieve steroid-free remission in patients who have failed adalimumab.
Methods :
A retrospective chart review was performed on uveitis patients treated with infliximab after failing adalimumab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX, between Sept 2015 and Sept 2016. Demographics, comorbidities, site and severity of uveitis, duration of therapy, visual acuity, and side effects were reviewed. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 24.0 (Chicago, IL).
Results :
Twelve subjects, 2 adults and 10 children (age range 7-78) were identified to have been switched to infliximab infusions after failing to achieve steroid-free remission on adalimumab. There was a 100% response rate to infliximab, and 3(25%) subjects achieved steroid-free remission. Age, gender, and ethnicity were not statistically significant determinants of steroid-free remission in our cohort. There was a higher rate of remission in patients with anterior uveitis (p=0.007), in patients with associated systemic manifestations (p=0.018) as opposed to inflammation isolated to the eye only, and in the absence of retinal vasculitis (p=0.091).
Conclusions :
To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the use of infliximab in the context of adalimumab failure. Twenty-five percent of our study achieved steroid-free remission. Larger, long-term systematic studies are necessary to confirm our findings.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.